Personnel lift vehicles are commonly used, such as in the form of electric picking machines or other equipment needed for storing goods in/on warehouses/racks and picking out goods therefrom. An operator stores goods on and picks goods from different levels by controlling the lifting height of the personnel lift vehicle or electric picking machine, and performing horizontal movement of the goods thereafter. Use of such a machine allows an operator to rise and descend along with the goods. Personnel lift vehicles often are associated with a carriage that may be manually or electrically moved or driven between locations for use in lifting or lowering the operator and goods. Configurations for prior art personnel lift vehicles or electric picking machines tend to have problems involving counterweight requirements to avoid tipping of the vehicle, and driving space requirements that can impair the ability to maneuver through relatively narrow aisles.
Prior art devices also tend to lack additional load capacity in the form of cargo platform availability, due to the location of other components, such as a lift, a personnel platform, and drive and battery components. Alternatively, some prior art devices mount the battery below a cargo or personnel platform, within a lower compartment of a vehicle chassis, to provide additional platform space on the chassis. However, such configurations tend to restrict access to the battery and may impair the ability to service or replace the battery, especially if the platform is loaded with cargo at the time the battery is in need of attention.